The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was St. Alphonsus Liguori’s response to the call he experienced coming from Jesus through the poor. On November 9, 1732, in his beloved Scala, St. Alphonsus Liguori founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ announcing the Good News to the poor. His life became one of mission and service to the most abandoned. In 1832, 100 years after their Congregation was founded, six Redemptorists sailed from Europe to the United States at the request of the American bishops. They ministered to the needs of the people and opened parishes and schools for them. In 1847, John Neumann, a Bohemian priest from New York was the first Redemptorist to profess vows in the United States. Following their founder’s tradition, the Redemptorists are leaders in preaching their message of Good News and hope for all: “In Him there is plentiful redemption.” There are over 5,500 Redemptorists; they work in 77 countries on 5 continents. “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” is the missionary icon of the Congregation.
Neumann was born in Prachatitz, Bohemia, Austrian Empire, which is part of modern-day Czech Republic. He attended school in České Budějovice before entering seminary there in 1831. Two years later he transferred to the University of Prague, where he studied theology, though he was also interested in astronomy and botany. His goal was to beordained to the priesthood, and he applied for this after completing his studies in 1835. His bishop, however, had decided that there would be no more ordinations for the time being, as Bohemia had a high number of priests.
Neumann traveled to America with the hope of being ordained to the priesthood. He was ordained in June 1836 by Bishop John Dubois at old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. After his ordination, St. John was assigned by the bishop to work with recent German immigrants in mission churches in theNiagara Falls area, where he visited the sick, taught catechism, and trained teachers to take over when he left. From 1836 until 1840 he served as the founding pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Williamsville, New York. In 1840 he applied to join the Redemptorist Fathers, was accepted, and entered the novitiate of the Congregation at St. Philomena's in Pittsburgh, PA--becoming their first candidate in the New World. He took his vows as a full member of the Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1842, and, after six years of difficult but fruitful work, he was appointed the Provincial Superior for the United States. Neumann was naturalizedas a citizen of the United States in Baltimore on 10 February 1848.
In March 1852 Neumann was consecrated in Baltimore, as Bishop of Philadelphia. He was the first bishop in the United States to organize a Catholic diocesan school system, and he increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. His construction campaign extended to parish churches as well. He actively invited religious orders to establish new houses within the diocese and founded a congregation of FranciscanSisters, the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia. He brought theSchool Sisters of Notre Dame from Germany to assist in religious instruction and staffing an orphanage and intervened to save the Oblate Sisters of Providence from dissolution. He established and built so many new parish churches within the diocese that one was completed almost at the rate of one every month.[1]
His facility with languages endeared him to the many new immigrant communities in the city. As well as ministering to newcomers in his native German, he also spoke Italian fluently and ministered personally to a growing congregation of Italian-speakers in his private chapel. He eventually established the first Italian national parishes in the country for them.
Neumann's efforts to expand the Catholic Church throughout his diocese was not without opposition. The Know Nothings, an anti-Catholic political party, was at the height of its activities, setting fire to convents and schools. Discouraged, Neumann wrote to Rome asking to be replaced as bishop, but he received a reply from Pope Pius IX insisting that he continue. In 1854, Neumann traveled to Rome and was present at St. Peter's Basilica on December 8, along with 53 cardinals, 139 other bishops, and thousands of priests andlaity, when Pope Pius IX solemnly defined ex cathedra the dogma of theImmaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
While running errands on January 5, 1860, Neumann collapsed and died on a city street, due to a stroke. He was 48 years old. Bishop James Frederick Wood, who had been appointed his coadjutorwith right of succession, then took office as Bishop of Philadelphia. Neumann's date of death, January 5, is now celebrated as his feast day in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America. The first step toward proclamation of Neumann as a saint was his being declared ""Venerable"" by Pope Benedict XV in 1921. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council on 13 October 1963, and was canonized by that same pope on 19 June 1977. His feast days are January 5 on theRoman calendar for the general Church and March 5 in the Czech Republic.
Following his canonization, the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann was constructed at the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Philadelphia. The remains of St. John Neumann rest under the altar of the shrine within a glass-walled reliquary.
In 1980, Our Lady of the Angels College, founded by the congregation of Franciscan Sisters he had founded and located within the archdiocese, was renamedNeumann College. It was granted university status by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2009.[2]
People called him the stubby priest and laughed when they saw him riding his horse, because his feet did not touch the stirrups. He was not very good-looking - a square face, a square body. He was quiet, not a man with a vivacious personality, not one to charm a crowd or draw attention to himself. He was not the type of Church leader who pleased influential people. But John Nepomucene Neumann was a man of God who was also true to himself and he did the best job he could do.
Born and educated in Bohemia, John was interested in botany and astronomy as well as Church matters. By the time he was twenty-five, he knew six languages and was a trained seminarian. Since there were many priests in his country, and since he longed to be a missionary in America, John came to the United States in 1836 - with one suit of clothes and one dollar in his pocket.
The bishop of New York ordained John and sent him to the hard-working German-speaking people who were clearing the forests around Niagara Falls. He traveled on horseback from one mission station to another, visiting the sick, teaching catechism, and training teachers to take over when he left. He was busy with his many responsibilities, but very lonely at times. He felt the need for the fellowship of community life and for the spiritual challenge that living with other priests might bring.
external image st_john_neumann.jpg
So John entered the Redemptorist Order. As a novice, he was sent to different places so frequently that he wondered if his superiors really wanted him. Finally they allowed him to make his vows, and he became the first Redemptorist to be professed in the United States. He helped in parishes until he was made the superior of the American branch of the order. While John felt very unqualified in this position, it was due to his direction that the Redemptorists became leaders in the parochial school movement. He served as a parish priest in Baltimore until he was made bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. There was great opposition to his appointment at that time.The influential, wealthy Catholics wanted someone who would make a good impression: one who would speak eloquently and act the part of a refined, polite gentleman. They wanted a bishop who would look the other way when he saw their unchristian practices. The Irish wanted a bishop who was Irish, who was one of their own kind. Those who were unhappy with John did not seem to care that he was a prayerful, sincere follower of Jesus. They disliked his thick Bohemian accent, plain speaking style, and the fact that he was very quiet and strict. He received a very cold reception when he went to Philadelphia. While it hurt him deeply, John decided that he would just be himself and do the best job he could. He knew that God would not ask any more than that. But his resolution did not make the criticism stop.
He also found himself confronted by the Know-Nothings, a powerful political group determined to deprive foreigners and Catholics of their civil rights. To achieve their goals, they burned convents and schools. Between the Catholic and the non-Catholic attacks, John became so discouraged that he wrote to Rome requesting to be transferred to a smaller diocese. He thought maybe someone else could do a better job in this position. But the highest Church authority in Rome told him to stay at his job - which he did! He stayed and contributed a great deal to Catholic education. In eight years, Philadelphia grew from two Catholic schools to one hundred schools, and was organized on a diocesan basis. Every year he made a visit to each parish and mission station, hoping to start a Catholic school in each place. He brought in many teaching orders of nuns and Christian brothers. For the German immigrants, he published two catechisms and a Bible history in German. He wrote many articles for Catholic newspapers and magazines.
In 1860, he died of a stroke while walking down the street taking care of errands. After his death, people publicized his many hidden virtues and penances. This short, unassuming, often unpopular man who worked so hard for God was declared a saint on June 19, 1977.
Neumann, St. John Nepomucene (“The Little Bishop”)
Born: March 28, 1811, in Prachatitz, Bohemia (now Prachatice, Czech Republic)
Died: January 5, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Saint, Clergyman
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County Keywords: Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Bishop Frederic Baraga; Eva Benassi; Bishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Budweis Theological Seminary; Bishop John DuBois; Michael Flanigan; Forty Hours Devotion; LaSalle University; James Kent Lenahan; Saint Alphonsus Liguori; National Shrine of Saint John Neumann; Oblate Sisters of Providence; Our Lady of Angels College; Pope Paul VI; Redemptorists; Saint Peter the Apostle’s Church; Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis; South Catholic High School; University of Prague. Abstract: John Neumann was born in 1811 in what is now the Czech Republic. He started out in the Budweis Theological Seminary then two years later transferred to the archdiocese at the University of Prague but was ordained a priest in America. He developed a profound interest in children and worked to build and reform schools. He also founded a new religious community, the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Neumann was Bishop of Philadelphia for eight years before his sudden death in 1860. Afterwards, he would be canonized a saint in December 1976 with the approval of Pope Paul VI. Biography: John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in the village of Prachatitz in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father owned a small stocking mill and was also a minor village official while his mother was a devout woman who attended Mass daily. Neumann had no strong inclination for the priesthood in his childhood, and at the age of twenty he was still unsure of his choice of a career. He had finally made his decision with the help of his mother, who encouraged him to give theology a try. He was accepted into the Budweis Theological Seminary, in 1831, and from that point on, never regretted his decision. Neumann spent two years at the diocesan seminary in Budweis, and then transferred to the archdiocese at the University of Prague, where he completed his studies in 1835. He intended to be ordained there, but his bishop, in 1835, decided there would be no more ordinations since they had a high number of priests already. His academic record was excellent, and he had exceptional skill in mastering languages. In addition to his native German and Bohemian languages, he knew Italian, Spanish, Greek, Latin, English and French and would later in life teach himself Gaelic in order to minister to Irish immigrants. Neumann wrote to other bishops in Europe, but they all replied that they also had too many priests. At the seminary, Neumann then made up his mind to become a missionary in America. This was after being inspired by the missionary writings of the American Bishop Frederic Baraga. Neumann wrote to bishops in America, requesting to be ordained in the United States. He was welcomed to the Diocese of New York at the age of 25 by Bishop John DuBois and was ordained in June 1836. He was assigned to mission churches near Buffalo, New York until he applied to the Redemptorists, members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic order founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In January 1842, he took his vows in Baltimore, Maryland and became the first Redemptorist in the New World. Neumann’s first assignment was to teach catechism in German to a group of children, who were soon receiving first Communion. He later traveled to Pittsburgh and became a Redemptorist lay brother, a mission he would serve for the rest of his life. Neumann had many accomplishments throughout his life including administering to the largest diocese in the country and building new churches, one almost every month. He had a fond love for children and was first to organize a Catholic diocesan school system and increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. He founded a new religious community, the Sisters of The Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and he saved the Oblate Sisters of Providence from dissolution. He had also established the pattern for parochial school systems in America by changing them into a diocesan system and originated the Forty Hours Devotion for year-round prayer. Above all this, however, he was a priest of extraordinary spirituality, intense devotion to the Eucharist and selfless commitment to the service of all people. Neumann never wanted any position of authority and, therefore, begged not to be made a Bishop. However, he was declared a Bishop in 1852, at the age of 41 by Pope Pius IX. After his installation, and because of his short stature, many called him, with the greatest affection, “Our Little Bishop.” He soon developed a persistent and racking cough which took much of his strength. He knew that his end was near, yet he refused to give up his work. Neumann was the Bishop of Philadelphia for less than eight years before his sudden death on January 5, 1860, when he suddenly collapsed walking down Vine Street in Philadelphia. Neumann’s burial was in the crypt of St. Peter the Apostle’s Church in Philadelphia and, because the church was an active and popular site, special permission had to be granted for his burial here. Neumann performed many of his services here and was also a friend and an advisor to many of the poor German parishioners that belonged to the church. The Neumann shrine is still located there today; however, his body lies beneath the altar, the first of all American bishops ever to be raised to the altars of the Church. In 1976, 116 years after his death, the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints recommended to Pope Paul VI that Neumann be enrolled in the calendar of Saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope signed the decree approving this proposal and on December 20, 1976, final word was given for Neumann’s canonization. In proposing a candidate for beatification, the Church requires that two miracles be attested and proved. After beatification two more miracles must be approved before the candidate is canonized, or declared a Saint. In the case of Neumann, the first miracle proved was that of Eva Benassi, an eleven-year-old girl living in the town of Sassuolo, Italy. She was diagnosed with acute diffused peritonitis, with death imminent. Eva woke one next morning, entirely cured after praying to Neumann for intercession. The second of Neumann’s miracles occurred in Philadelphia in July 1949. James Kent Lenahan, a nineteen years old boy was in an unusual automobile accident, as he was crushed between a car and a telephone pole. His injuries included a crushed skull, a pierced lung, a broken collarbone, and three broken ribs, as well as other internal complications. His injuries were so bad that doctors did not even intend to operate. After his parents placed Neumann’s picture on top of James, he was soon released from the hospital, having made a complete recovery. Another young boy, Michael Flanigan, diagnosed with bone cancer, which was rapidly spreading to his lungs, and with several unsuccessful operations, was soon to be fully recovered with no cancer ever to be found again. This miracle happened after his parents took Michael to the shrine of Bishop Neumann in Saint Peter’s Church. Prayers were offered, and a relic was applied to the cancer. The symptoms then miraculously disappeared. After accepting this cure as an authentic miracle, Pope Paul VI did not need to find a fourth miracle to declare Bishop Neumann a saint. In honoring his memory, a Franciscan college in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Our Lady of Angels College, located in Aston Township, Pennsylvania, was renamed as Neumann College after his beatification. South Catholic High School, an all boys secondary school in Philadelphia was renamed to honor Bishop John Neumann as well. St. Neumann Hall, a residence hall at LaSalle University was built in 1989. The hall was named after Bishop Neumann because he drew many religious teaching orders to Philadelphia, including the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order, and because he organized the patriarchal school system in Philadelphia. His feast date is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, January 5th.
Summary:
Lived 1811 - 1860
First male Canonized Saint from the United States
Known for lifetime of pastoral work, particularly among German and Italian immigrants
Establishing the first system of parochial schools in America
Founder of Sisters of St. Francis
Organized first diocesan schedule of Forty Hours' Devotion
First Redemptorist Priest in America.
Fourth Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia
Feast day - January 5Biography:
John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Bohemia, the Czech portion of the present Czechoslovakia. He graduated from a nearby college in Bohemia and then applied to the seminary. John distinguished himself not only in his theological studies, but also in the natural sciences. Besides mastering Latin, Greek and Hebrew, he learned to speak fluently at least eight modern languages, including various Slavic dialects
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During his seminary days, John read with great interest the quarterly reports of the Missionary Society of St. Leopold containing accounts of the pioneering work being done in the United States. On February 8, 1836, he left his native home and started the trip across Europe on foot. Several months later, he set sail for New York aboard a three-masted sailing ship loaded to capacity with emigrants. Six weeks later, the ship entered the harbor of New York.
A few days after arriving in New York, John Neumann sought out and met the bishop, John Dubois. Bishop Dubois had only 36 priests to care for 200,000 Catholics living in all of New York State and half of lower New Jersey. In June of 1836, the bishop ordained John Neumann as a sub-deacon, a deacon, and as a priest, all within one week’s time. The following week he was pastor of the whole Niagara Frontier, some one hundred square miles of swampy primeval forest.
Father John Neumann devoted himself to the pastoral care of all the outlying areas in his parish for four years. From his headquarters near Buffalo, he made frequent journeys on foot in all kinds of weather to points ten or twenty miles away, visiting the settlers on their scattered farms. Many German immigrants had settled this sector of the diocese and were in danger of losing the Faith. He built churches, raised log schools where possible and even taught school himself to the German and Irish children in the area.
Father Neumann's strenuous work and pace soon took a toll and his health began to suffer. He decided to join the Redemptorists Missionary Order and was the first person to make his religious profession as a Redemptorist in America in 1842 at the Church of St. James in Baltimore. Before his elevation to Bishop of Philadelphia at the age of 41, he served as rector of St. Philomena Church in Pittsburgh, and St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore, as well as vice-provincial of the Redemptorists Missionary Order in America. He was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia by Archbishop Francis Kenrick at St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore in 1852.
At that time, the Diocese of Philadelphia was the largest Diocese in America, comprising eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and all of Delaware. Bishop Neumann was the first Bishop in the United States to introduce theForty Hours Devotion in his diocese. He actively promoted the establishment of parochial schools and increased the number of schools in his Diocese from two schools in 1852, to nearly one hundred by 1860. Through his work with parochial schools, he helped the Notre Dame Sisters of Munich become firmly established in the United States. He may also lay claim to being founder of a religious order for women, the Third Order of St. Francis of Glen Riddle, whose Rule he drafted in 1855 after returning from Rome for the solemn promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Though Bishop Neumann had suffered from frequent illnesses, his sudden death by stroke on January 5, 1860 at the age of 48, was completely unexpected.
The cause of his beatification was begun in 1886. Ten years later, he received the title of Venerable. In February, 1963, Pope John XXIII issued the proclamation for his Beatification, but the ceremony was delayed by the death of Pope John. Pope Paul VI Beatified him on October 13th. His Canonization followed in June of 1977. Prayer to Saint John Neumann:
O Saint John Neumann, your ardent desire of bringing all souls to Christ impelled you to leave home and country; teach us to live worthily in the spirit of our Baptism which makes us all children of the one Heavenly Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the first-born of the family of God. Obtain for us that complete dedication in the service of the needy, the weak, the afflicted and the abandoned which so characterized your life. Help us to walk perseveringly in the difficult and, at times, painful paths of duty, strengthened by the Body and Blood of our Redeemer and under the watchful protection of Mary our Mother. May death still find us on the sure road to our Father's House with the light of living Faith in our hearts. Amen. National Shrine to Saint John Neumann:
The National Shrine is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Shrine includes his remains which, remarkably well preserved after a century of interment, were exhumed and placed in a glass encasement beneath the altar in the church.
Almost immediately after his death, devout souls were drawn to his grave. More than a few claiming extraordinary miracles of grace though his intercession. It was as though John Neumann, now dead, continued his works of mercy among his people. For decades this unsolicited devotion continued. Finally after many years and many incontrovertible miracles worked through the intercession of this holy man, he was Canonized a Saint in 1977.
Now pilgrims come from all over the world. From his native Bohemia, from Germany and Holland they come to claim allegiance to one of their own. Pope John Paul II made a point to visit the Shrine when he came to Philadelphia to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Various Irish Societies of Philadelphia have made formal pilgrimages to the tomb of this humble man of God who, as bishop, did so much for their immigrant forebears in the 1850's -- this "foreigner" who went to the trouble of studying enough Irish to be able to hear the confessions of those who "had no English," in the coal regions of nineteenth century Pennsylvania.
Those of Italian extraction remember Bishop Neumann as the founder of the first national parish for Italians in the United States. At a time when there was no priest to speak their language, no one to care for them, Bishop Neumann, who had studied Italian as a seminarian in Bohemia, gathered them together in his private chapel and preached to them in their native tongue. In 1855 he Purchased a Methodist Church in South Philadelphia, dedicated it to St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, and provided one of his seminary professors, to be the pastor.
"Among the shepherds of the flock in Philadelphia," wrote the late Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the diocese, "the figure of Venerable John Neumann is pre-eminent. It was mainly through his prodigious efforts that a Catholic school system came into being and that parochial schools began to rise across the land. His holy life, his childlike gentleness, his hard labor and his tremendous foresight is still fresh and green among you. The tree planted and watered by Bishop Neumann now gives you its fruit."
In 1832, 100 years after their Congregation was founded, six Redemptorists sailed from Europe to the United States at the request of the American bishops.
They ministered to the needs of the people and opened parishes and schools for them. In 1847, John Neumann, a Bohemian priest from New York was the first Redemptorist to profess vows in the United States.
Following their founder’s tradition, the Redemptorists are leaders in preaching their message of Good News and hope for all: “In Him there is plentiful redemption.”
There are over 5,500 Redemptorists; they work in 77 countries on 5 continents. “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” is the missionary icon of the Congregation.
Neumann was born in Prachatitz, Bohemia, Austrian Empire, which is part of modern-day Czech Republic. He attended school in České Budějovice before entering seminary there in 1831. Two years later he transferred to the University of Prague, where he studied theology, though he was also interested in astronomy and botany. His goal was to beordained to the priesthood, and he applied for this after completing his studies in 1835. His bishop, however, had decided that there would be no more ordinations for the time being, as Bohemia had a high number of priests.
Neumann traveled to America with the hope of being ordained to the priesthood. He was ordained in June 1836 by Bishop John Dubois at old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. After his ordination, St. John was assigned by the bishop to work with recent German immigrants in mission churches in theNiagara Falls area, where he visited the sick, taught catechism, and trained teachers to take over when he left. From 1836 until 1840 he served as the founding pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Williamsville, New York. In 1840 he applied to join the Redemptorist Fathers, was accepted, and entered the novitiate of the Congregation at St. Philomena's in Pittsburgh, PA--becoming their first candidate in the New World. He took his vows as a full member of the Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland in January 1842, and, after six years of difficult but fruitful work, he was appointed the Provincial Superior for the United States. Neumann was naturalizedas a citizen of the United States in Baltimore on 10 February 1848.
In March 1852 Neumann was consecrated in Baltimore, as Bishop of Philadelphia. He was the first bishop in the United States to organize a Catholic diocesan school system, and he increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. His construction campaign extended to parish churches as well. He actively invited religious orders to establish new houses within the diocese and founded a congregation of Franciscan Sisters, the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia. He brought theSchool Sisters of Notre Dame from Germany to assist in religious instruction and staffing an orphanage and intervened to save the Oblate Sisters of Providence from dissolution. He established and built so many new parish churches within the diocese that one was completed almost at the rate of one every month.[1]
His facility with languages endeared him to the many new immigrant communities in the city. As well as ministering to newcomers in his native German, he also spoke Italian fluently and ministered personally to a growing congregation of Italian-speakers in his private chapel. He eventually established the first Italian national parishes in the country for them.
Neumann's efforts to expand the Catholic Church throughout his diocese was not without opposition. The Know Nothings, an anti-Catholic political party, was at the height of its activities, setting fire to convents and schools. Discouraged, Neumann wrote to Rome asking to be replaced as bishop, but he received a reply from Pope Pius IX insisting that he continue. In 1854, Neumann traveled to Rome and was present at St. Peter's Basilica on December 8, along with 53 cardinals, 139 other bishops, and thousands of priests andlaity, when Pope Pius IX solemnly defined ex cathedra the dogma of theImmaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
While running errands on January 5, 1860, Neumann collapsed and died on a city street, due to a stroke. He was 48 years old. Bishop James Frederick Wood, who had been appointed his coadjutorwith right of succession, then took office as Bishop of Philadelphia. Neumann's date of death, January 5, is now celebrated as his feast day in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America. The first step toward proclamation of Neumann as a saint was his being declared ""Venerable"" by Pope Benedict XV in 1921. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council on 13 October 1963, and was canonized by that same pope on 19 June 1977. His feast days are January 5 on theRoman calendar for the general Church and March 5 in the Czech Republic.
Following his canonization, the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann was constructed at the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Philadelphia. The remains of St. John Neumann rest under the altar of the shrine within a glass-walled reliquary.
In 1980, Our Lady of the Angels College, founded by the congregation of Franciscan Sisters he had founded and located within the archdiocese, was renamedNeumann College. It was granted university status by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2009.[2]
http://www.stjohnneumann.us/biography_sjn.html
Born and educated in Bohemia, John was interested in botany and astronomy as well as Church matters. By the time he was twenty-five, he knew six languages and was a trained seminarian. Since there were many priests in his country, and since he longed to be a missionary in America, John came to the United States in 1836 - with one suit of clothes and one dollar in his pocket.
The bishop of New York ordained John and sent him to the hard-working German-speaking people who were clearing the forests around Niagara Falls. He traveled on horseback from one mission station to another, visiting the sick, teaching catechism, and training teachers to take over when he left. He was busy with his many responsibilities, but very lonely at times. He felt the need for the fellowship of community life and for the spiritual challenge that living with other priests might bring.
He also found himself confronted by the Know-Nothings, a powerful political group determined to deprive foreigners and Catholics of their civil rights. To achieve their goals, they burned convents and schools. Between the Catholic and the non-Catholic attacks, John became so discouraged that he wrote to Rome requesting to be transferred to a smaller diocese. He thought maybe someone else could do a better job in this position. But the highest Church authority in Rome told him to stay at his job - which he did! He stayed and contributed a great deal to Catholic education. In eight years, Philadelphia grew from two Catholic schools to one hundred schools, and was organized on a diocesan basis. Every year he made a visit to each parish and mission station, hoping to start a Catholic school in each place. He brought in many teaching orders of nuns and Christian brothers. For the German immigrants, he published two catechisms and a Bible history in German. He wrote many articles for Catholic newspapers and magazines.
In 1860, he died of a stroke while walking down the street taking care of errands. After his death, people publicized his many hidden virtues and penances. This short, unassuming, often unpopular man who worked so hard for God was declared a saint on June 19, 1977.
Neumann, St. John Nepomucene (“The Little Bishop”)
Born: March 28, 1811, in Prachatitz, Bohemia (now Prachatice, Czech Republic)
Died: January 5, 1860, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Saint, Clergyman
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Keywords: Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Bishop Frederic Baraga; Eva Benassi; Bishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Budweis Theological Seminary; Bishop John DuBois; Michael Flanigan; Forty Hours Devotion; LaSalle University; James Kent Lenahan; Saint Alphonsus Liguori; National Shrine of Saint John Neumann; Oblate Sisters of Providence; Our Lady of Angels College; Pope Paul VI; Redemptorists; Saint Peter the Apostle’s Church; Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis; South Catholic High School; University of Prague.
Abstract: John Neumann was born in 1811 in what is now the Czech Republic. He started out in the Budweis Theological Seminary then two years later transferred to the archdiocese at the University of Prague but was ordained a priest in America. He developed a profound interest in children and worked to build and reform schools. He also founded a new religious community, the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Neumann was Bishop of Philadelphia for eight years before his sudden death in 1860. Afterwards, he would be canonized a saint in December 1976 with the approval of Pope Paul VI.
Biography:
John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in the village of Prachatitz in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father owned a small stocking mill and was also a minor village official while his mother was a devout woman who attended Mass daily. Neumann had no strong inclination for the priesthood in his childhood, and at the age of twenty he was still unsure of his choice of a career. He had finally made his decision with the help of his mother, who encouraged him to give theology a try. He was accepted into the Budweis Theological Seminary, in 1831, and from that point on, never regretted his decision. Neumann spent two years at the diocesan seminary in Budweis, and then transferred to the archdiocese at the University of Prague, where he completed his studies in 1835. He intended to be ordained there, but his bishop, in 1835, decided there would be no more ordinations since they had a high number of priests already. His academic record was excellent, and he had exceptional skill in mastering languages. In addition to his native German and Bohemian languages, he knew Italian, Spanish, Greek, Latin, English and French and would later in life teach himself Gaelic in order to minister to Irish immigrants.
Neumann wrote to other bishops in Europe, but they all replied that they also had too many priests. At the seminary, Neumann then made up his mind to become a missionary in America. This was after being inspired by the missionary writings of the American Bishop Frederic Baraga. Neumann wrote to bishops in America, requesting to be ordained in the United States. He was welcomed to the Diocese of New York at the age of 25 by Bishop John DuBois and was ordained in June 1836. He was assigned to mission churches near Buffalo, New York until he applied to the Redemptorists, members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic order founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In January 1842, he took his vows in Baltimore, Maryland and became the first Redemptorist in the New World. Neumann’s first assignment was to teach catechism in German to a group of children, who were soon receiving first Communion. He later traveled to Pittsburgh and became a Redemptorist lay brother, a mission he would serve for the rest of his life.
Neumann had many accomplishments throughout his life including administering to the largest diocese in the country and building new churches, one almost every month. He had a fond love for children and was first to organize a Catholic diocesan school system and increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. He founded a new religious community, the Sisters of The Third Order of St. Francis of Philadelphia, and he saved the Oblate Sisters of Providence from dissolution. He had also established the pattern for parochial school systems in America by changing them into a diocesan system and originated the Forty Hours Devotion for year-round prayer. Above all this, however, he was a priest of extraordinary spirituality, intense devotion to the Eucharist and selfless commitment to the service of all people. Neumann never wanted any position of authority and, therefore, begged not to be made a Bishop. However, he was declared a Bishop in 1852, at the age of 41 by Pope Pius IX. After his installation, and because of his short stature, many called him, with the greatest affection, “Our Little Bishop.”
He soon developed a persistent and racking cough which took much of his strength. He knew that his end was near, yet he refused to give up his work. Neumann was the Bishop of Philadelphia for less than eight years before his sudden death on January 5, 1860, when he suddenly collapsed walking down Vine Street in Philadelphia. Neumann’s burial was in the crypt of St. Peter the Apostle’s Church in Philadelphia and, because the church was an active and popular site, special permission had to be granted for his burial here. Neumann performed many of his services here and was also a friend and an advisor to many of the poor German parishioners that belonged to the church. The Neumann shrine is still located there today; however, his body lies beneath the altar, the first of all American bishops ever to be raised to the altars of the Church.
In 1976, 116 years after his death, the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints recommended to Pope Paul VI that Neumann be enrolled in the calendar of Saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope signed the decree approving this proposal and on December 20, 1976, final word was given for Neumann’s canonization. In proposing a candidate for beatification, the Church requires that two miracles be attested and proved. After beatification two more miracles must be approved before the candidate is canonized, or declared a Saint. In the case of Neumann, the first miracle proved was that of Eva Benassi, an eleven-year-old girl living in the town of Sassuolo, Italy. She was diagnosed with acute diffused peritonitis, with death imminent. Eva woke one next morning, entirely cured after praying to Neumann for intercession. The second of Neumann’s miracles occurred in Philadelphia in July 1949. James Kent Lenahan, a nineteen years old boy was in an unusual automobile accident, as he was crushed between a car and a telephone pole. His injuries included a crushed skull, a pierced lung, a broken collarbone, and three broken ribs, as well as other internal complications. His injuries were so bad that doctors did not even intend to operate. After his parents placed Neumann’s picture on top of James, he was soon released from the hospital, having made a complete recovery. Another young boy, Michael Flanigan, diagnosed with bone cancer, which was rapidly spreading to his lungs, and with several unsuccessful operations, was soon to be fully recovered with no cancer ever to be found again. This miracle happened after his parents took Michael to the shrine of Bishop Neumann in Saint Peter’s Church. Prayers were offered, and a relic was applied to the cancer. The symptoms then miraculously disappeared. After accepting this cure as an authentic miracle, Pope Paul VI did not need to find a fourth miracle to declare Bishop Neumann a saint.
In honoring his memory, a Franciscan college in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Our Lady of Angels College, located in Aston Township, Pennsylvania, was renamed as Neumann College after his beatification. South Catholic High School, an all boys secondary school in Philadelphia was renamed to honor Bishop John Neumann as well. St. Neumann Hall, a residence hall at LaSalle University was built in 1989. The hall was named after Bishop Neumann because he drew many religious teaching orders to Philadelphia, including the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order, and because he organized the patriarchal school system in Philadelphia. His feast date is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, January 5th.
- Lived 1811 - 1860
- First male Canonized Saint from the United States
- Known for lifetime of pastoral work, particularly among German and Italian immigrants
- Establishing the first system of parochial schools in America
- Founder of Sisters of St. Francis
- Organized first diocesan schedule of Forty Hours' Devotion
- First Redemptorist Priest in America.
- Fourth Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia
- Feast day - January 5Biography:
>John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Bohemia, the Czech portion of the present Czechoslovakia. He graduated from a nearby college in Bohemia and then applied to the seminary. John distinguished himself not only in his theological studies, but also in the natural sciences. Besides mastering Latin, Greek and Hebrew, he learned to speak fluently at least eight modern languages, including various Slavic dialects
A few days after arriving in New York, John Neumann sought out and met the bishop, John Dubois. Bishop Dubois had only 36 priests to care for 200,000 Catholics living in all of New York State and half of lower New Jersey. In June of 1836, the bishop ordained John Neumann as a sub-deacon, a deacon, and as a priest, all within one week’s time. The following week he was pastor of the whole Niagara Frontier, some one hundred square miles of swampy primeval forest.
Father John Neumann devoted himself to the pastoral care of all the outlying areas in his parish for four years. From his headquarters near Buffalo, he made frequent journeys on foot in all kinds of weather to points ten or twenty miles away, visiting the settlers on their scattered farms. Many German immigrants had settled this sector of the diocese and were in danger of losing the Faith. He built churches, raised log schools where possible and even taught school himself to the German and Irish children in the area.
Father Neumann's strenuous work and pace soon took a toll and his health began to suffer. He decided to join the Redemptorists Missionary Order and was the first person to make his religious profession as a Redemptorist in America in 1842 at the Church of St. James in Baltimore. Before his elevation to Bishop of Philadelphia at the age of 41, he served as rector of St. Philomena Church in Pittsburgh, and St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore, as well as vice-provincial of the Redemptorists Missionary Order in America. He was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia by Archbishop Francis Kenrick at St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore in 1852.
At that time, the Diocese of Philadelphia was the largest Diocese in America, comprising eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and all of Delaware. Bishop Neumann was the first Bishop in the United States to introduce theForty Hours Devotion in his diocese. He actively promoted the establishment of parochial schools and increased the number of schools in his Diocese from two schools in 1852, to nearly one hundred by 1860. Through his work with parochial schools, he helped the Notre Dame Sisters of Munich become firmly established in the United States. He may also lay claim to being founder of a religious order for women, the Third Order of St. Francis of Glen Riddle, whose Rule he drafted in 1855 after returning from Rome for the solemn promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Though Bishop Neumann had suffered from frequent illnesses, his sudden death by stroke on January 5, 1860 at the age of 48, was completely unexpected.
The cause of his beatification was begun in 1886. Ten years later, he received the title of Venerable. In February, 1963, Pope John XXIII issued the proclamation for his Beatification, but the ceremony was delayed by the death of Pope John. Pope Paul VI Beatified him on October 13th. His Canonization followed in June of 1977.
Prayer to Saint John Neumann:
O Saint John Neumann, your ardent desire of bringing all souls to Christ impelled you to leave home and country; teach us to live worthily in the spirit of our Baptism which makes us all children of the one Heavenly Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the first-born of the family of God.
Obtain for us that complete dedication in the service of the needy, the weak, the afflicted and the abandoned which so characterized your life. Help us to walk perseveringly in the difficult and, at times, painful paths of duty, strengthened by the Body and Blood of our Redeemer and under the watchful protection of Mary our Mother.
May death still find us on the sure road to our Father's House with the light of living Faith in our hearts. Amen.
National Shrine to Saint John Neumann:
The National Shrine is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Shrine includes his remains which, remarkably well preserved after a century of interment, were exhumed and placed in a glass encasement beneath the altar in the church.
Almost immediately after his death, devout souls were drawn to his grave. More than a few claiming extraordinary miracles of grace though his intercession. It was as though John Neumann, now dead, continued his works of mercy among his people. For decades this unsolicited devotion continued. Finally after many years and many incontrovertible miracles worked through the intercession of this holy man, he was Canonized a Saint in 1977.
Now pilgrims come from all over the world. From his native Bohemia, from Germany and Holland they come to claim allegiance to one of their own. Pope John Paul II made a point to visit the Shrine when he came to Philadelphia to attend the Eucharistic Congress. Various Irish Societies of Philadelphia have made formal pilgrimages to the tomb of this humble man of God who, as bishop, did so much for their immigrant forebears in the 1850's -- this "foreigner" who went to the trouble of studying enough Irish to be able to hear the confessions of those who "had no English," in the coal regions of nineteenth century Pennsylvania.
Those of Italian extraction remember Bishop Neumann as the founder of the first national parish for Italians in the United States. At a time when there was no priest to speak their language, no one to care for them, Bishop Neumann, who had studied Italian as a seminarian in Bohemia, gathered them together in his private chapel and preached to them in their native tongue. In 1855 he Purchased a Methodist Church in South Philadelphia, dedicated it to St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, and provided one of his seminary professors, to be the pastor.
"Among the shepherds of the flock in Philadelphia," wrote the late Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the diocese, "the figure of Venerable John Neumann is pre-eminent. It was mainly through his prodigious efforts that a Catholic school system came into being and that parochial schools began to rise across the land. His holy life, his childlike gentleness, his hard labor and his tremendous foresight is still fresh and green among you. The tree planted and watered by Bishop Neumann now gives you its fruit."